1.11.07

The silver band of the Milky Way runs through the group. There is also 61 Cygni- the first star to have its distance measured.As long ago as 1838 this distance was found to be

10.6 light years.Cygnus has now come into the news again.

Scientists believe that the group may contain a “black hole”.

A BLACK HOLE ?Yes. A black hole may be a million times bigger andheavier than the sun. Nothing can leave a black hole,

not even the star’s light and heat and radio waves.

If anything comes too near, it is pulled inside the “hole”and disappears for ever.We do not know much about black holes yet;but we do know that a star has two main forces.One force pulls things inwards towards the middle of the star,

or stops them escaping from the pull. The other force

pushes out waves of energy into space.Our sun is not a big star, and is two great forces are nicely balanced.

We can be thankful for that !A black hole may have no such balance. The inward pull may

have grown so strong that it can hold back all the outward pushing energy.

If such a star ever had planets, they would all fall into the hole.

The pull may even be strong enough to trouble other stars that

are not very far away frm the black hole.This last idea is important. Although star movements

seem very slow to our eyes, those in Cygnus are unusual.

Several stars may be moving slowly, slowly towards…

There is nothing to be seen.Only a black spot in the Silver-white Milky Way.